


Kinds of Good

by Current521



Series: Starkid Writes [29]
Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Blind Date, Cute, First Date, Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, early relationship stuff, starkid writes, starkid writes discord, there is a lot of making out going on
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:41:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22993360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Current521/pseuds/Current521
Summary: Ted has finally been talked into a blind date, and it turns out to be his coworker Paul. It's better than he initially thought; after all, Paul is kind of cute
Relationships: Paul Matthews/Ted
Series: Starkid Writes [29]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1462579
Comments: 50
Kudos: 88





	1. Kind of Cute

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt this week was "blind date" and uhh, this happened  
> I decided to make it a multi-chapter thing, watch me scramble to post daily without a backlog

Ted wasn't interested in blind dates, but he was interested in this one. No reason. He just hadn't gotten laid in a while, since Charlotte had decided to stop seeing him entirely, and sure, blind dates usually sucked, but he was willing to make an exception, his friend had promised this one would be good.

A good joke, Ted thought, when he saw his coworker Paul at the table they were supposed to meet at. "Hey Paul." He sat down. "Here for a blind date too, huh?"

Paul looked like his entire life flashed before his eyes. "Ted." He nodded. "This is…"

"Fine." Ted forced a smile. Paul was cute and he'd half considered actually asking him out, but hadn't because he'd say no. "Just fine."

"Sure." Paul attempted to smile back, but didn't quite succeed. "Um, so, do you wanna order?"

"Sure." Ted grabbed the menu. Paul hadn't run out screaming, so he considered himself successful. "Do you wanna split a bottle of wine?"

"Yeah, that'd be nice." Paul leaned over so that they could look at the menu together.

"Are you two ready to order?" A waiter had walked over.

"I am." Paul looked at Ted.

"Sure."

They ordered, a main course each and a split bottle of white wine, and the waiter disappeared.

"How do you know Jake?" Ted asked. "I assume you know him, he's the one who set me up."

"Yeah, he's friends with my sister." Paul shrugged. "How do you know him?"

"We went to high school together." Ted shrugged. "With your sister as well, I think." Ted suddenly remembered that Jake's good friend/girlfriend had been called Andrea Matthews. "Andrea, right?"

"Yeah." Paul nodded. "You know my sister. Okay. Okay. Okay."

"Barely." Ted shrugged. "She and Jake dated on and off throughout high school, so I saw her around. Haven't talked to her since graduation."

"Okay." Paul kept nodding. "Okay."

"Use your words, Paul, you know how to say something other than  _ okay _ ."

"Okay." Paul stopped nodding to shake his head. "Sorry, you're right. Anyway. Wait, you went to Sycamore?"

"Yeah." Ted shrugged. "We probably saw each other round, only two years between us, right?"

"Three," Paul said. "If you're Andrea's age."

"I'm older, but I repeated a year in middle school." Ted shrugged. "Got ill, it's not important. But yeah, three years between us in school, I guess."

"Oh." Paul looked around, slightly panicked. "How are you?"

"Fine." Ted shrugged. "Work is… Well, you know what it is. Melissa keeps pestering me about this softball league thing."

"Yeah, me too." Paul sighed and looked like he loosened up a little. "I keep telling her I don't want to, but…"

"Yeah same." Ted laughed. "She really can't take no for an answer."

"I know. I just know there'll be music and dancing and— And singing." Paul shook his head. "I don't like musicals."

"I know." Ted smiled. "I just don't like sports, I don't see the need to run unless I have to."

"That explains a lot," Paul said, in his usual deadpan way that made it difficult for Ted to determine if he was joking.

"Hey," he said half-heartedly. "I  _ can _ run, I just choose not to."

Paul smiled, and it was the least forced Ted had ever seen from him. "I believe you." There was definitely teasing in his tone now.

"I'm glad." The waiter arrived with their wine, and Ted poured Paul a glass, and then himself. He was enough of a gentleman to pour for Paul first, but not enough to wait for them to clink glasses before downing half his wine.

"Okay." Paul sipped his own wine. "I didn't realise you planned on getting drunk."

"I don't, I just don't see the point of holding back." Ted grinned. "I'll spare you the innuendo."

"Thanks." Paul's smile was forced again. "I got it."

"Of course you did." Ted winked.

"Please stop flirting, Ted."

"Why? We're on a date." Ted shrugged. "But fine then."

Paul sighed. "No, you're right, do… Do your thing." He waved. "Just uhh, I don't really do the whole… Flirting… Thing."

"Yeah that makes sense." Ted shrugged. "Don't worry, I'll flirt with you and flirt with myself for you. Okay, my flirting skills could use some work too, sue me." He grinned.

"They could," Paul agreed, laughing. “I’ll let that one slide.”   
“I appreciate it. I’ll try to think of a better pickup line.”

“You better.” Paul smiled, and yeah okay, he was kind of cute and Ted wasn’t entirely invested in screwing this up. “Otherwise I’ll have to, and neither of us want that.”   
“No you’re wrong, I really do want that.” Ted nearly giggled. “Come on Paul, give me your best attempt at a pickup line.”   
“Okay, um, okay…” Paul looked like he regretted ever saying anything in his life. “Okay. Is your name wifi? Because I’m feeling a connection.”

Ted laughed. “Paul, we work at a tech company. I’m the worst person you could use this line on.”   
“I know.” Paul was smiling slightly, but there was a definite red tone to his cheeks. “I just don’t do the flirting thing, I just read that somewhere.”

“Even better. You’ve set the standard now, Paul.” Ted smiled. “Anyway, did it hurt when you fell from Heaven?”   
Paul looked like he wanted to leave. He didn’t. “Are you trying to sabotage this date Ted? Because we can just call it over.”   
“Nah, I’m just teasing.” Ted grinned. “I’m actually trying to have a functional date.”   
“Yeah, me too.” Paul looked intently at the table, his cheeks reddening a bit more. “It wasn’t exactly the plan, but…”

“I know that feeling.” Before Ted could elaborate — how, he wasn’t sure — their food arrived. “Oh this looks really good,” he said instead.

“It does.” Paul nodded. “What did you get?” He leaned over to look at Ted’s plate.

“Salmon.” Ted shrugged. “What about you?”

“Steak.” Paul grabbed his cutlery and cut it. “Is it any good?”   
Ted took a bite. “Yeah, it’s pretty nice. Why would you order white wine with a steak, what the fuck Paul?”

“I just don’t like red wine that much.” Paul shrugged. “What else should I have gotten?”

“Beer or… Or sodapop, something, I don’t care, just not fucking  _ white wine _ with a steak.” Ted shook his head. “You’re fucking useless Paul.”   
“Yeah, your flirting skills could definitely use some work.” Paul shrugged. “It’s good, okay, have a bite.” He held out his fork.

Deciding that it was a date and he might as well, Ted took it. “I mean, it’s a good steak,” he said. “But I’d want a good red with that.” He emptied his wine glass and immediately poured another. “I’m not driving.”   
“Me either,” Paul said, emptying his own glass and pouring another. “This is a good wine.”   
“Yes, when you’re eating  _ fish _ , like a normal person drinking white wine would!” Ted shook his head. “I’m willing to let this slide, but next time, I’m making you get a wine fit for what you’re eating.”

“Okay Ted.” Paul smiled. “Next time?”   
“I did say that, didn’t I?” Ted shrugged; sure, it had just slipped out, but it was fine. “I’m having a good time, all things considered. And you’re kind of cute. So. Next time. Maybe.”

“Hmm.” Paul didn’t quite meet his eyes, and just went back to eating, but Ted decided to let him stew for a little bit. A few minutes. “I hate blind dates, I let Andrea talk me into this because she thought going out would be good for me.”   
“I mean, I let Jake talk me into this for basically the same reason, so that tracks.” Ted shrugged. “I’m not disappointed.”   
“No, me either.” Paul looked up to smile, and okay, maybe he was a little more than  _ kind of  _ cute. “I just wish I’d known it was you.”   
“Why? Would you have said yes?” Ted raised an eyebrow; he was kind of curious about this part.

“Probably not.” Paul put down his cutlery, the steak only half eaten. “I’m not really hungry.”   
“Yeah, me either, it’s a little early for dinner.” Ted had eaten most of his food, but not all of it. He waved at a waiter. “Check please.”

“I don’t know if I have cash to split it,” Paul said.

Ted shrugged. “I’ll cover it, it’s a date, I was expecting to.”

“Oh.” Paul smiled. “Thanks.”

“No worries.” The check came, and Ted put down the money, with a nice tip; he was not  _ that _ kind of an asshole. “Let’s go.”

Paul took his hand when they stood up and as they walked out, which Ted kind of appreciated. “You know,” he said once they were outside. “I would’ve guessed you were straight.”   
Ted looked at him for a few seconds. There were a lot of responses to that, both good and bad. He decided to just kiss him. “I’m not.” He smiled slightly.   
“Oh.” Paul smiled too. “I guessed that.”

“Yeah.” Ted kissed him again, a little longer. “I was gonna get a cab, wanna come home with me?”

“Okay. Okay.” Paul nodded. “Yeah. Okay.”   
Ted hailed a cab, and yeah, Paul holding his hand in the backseat on the way back to his apartment was also  _ kind of _ cute.


	2. Kind of Nice

Ted turned off the alarm, still mostly asleep, and decided that he didn't need to get up. Someone was in his bed, but that in itself wasn't unusual, so he just reached out and pulled the  _ someone  _ close.

"Ted?" Paul brushed his hair away from his face. "We need to get up, it's a work day."

Ted groaned and buried his face in the nape of Paul's neck. "I don't want to."

"Why not?" Paul wrapped his arms around Ted and held him close.

"Because I'd rather stay here with you." Ted leaned back just far enough to kiss him because okay, waking up next to Paul was kind of nice.

Paul blushed a little. "But  _ I'm _ going to work, so…"

"Oh okay then." Ted sighed, but he kissed Paul again for a few seconds before getting up. "Fine, let's go to work."

"Sure." Paul sat up. "Can you give me a ride? I don't have my car here so…"

"Of course." Ted grinned at him. "Bet you didn't expect to end up here."

"Here meaning yours or just wherever my date lived?" Paul shook his head. "Either way, no I didn't but…" He shrugged. "It's fine."

"I hope it's more than fine." Ted leaned down to kiss him. "Wanna borrow a clean shirt?"

"Oh uh… Yeah, thanks." Paul put on the shirt Ted tossed him. "Okay. Okay. Okay."

"What's wrong?"

"Okay um… I did not plan to go with whoever home. Okay. I'm fine." Paul looked more uncomfortable than usual.

"Are you?" Ted's instinct was to give him a hug, but something told him that would be counterproductive. "Say if you're not."

"Okay. I'm fine." Paul gave Ted a kiss. "This is new. Not bad, just new."

"Sure." Ted did pull him into a hug then. "Come on, I usually pick up breakfast from Beanie's, we need to leave now if we're gonna make that."

"Okay." Paul stepped away. "Let's go."

And yeah, okay, walking into the office holding hands with Paul was kind of nice, and yeah, okay, part of that was the confused stare from Charlotte, which earned Paul a proper kiss before Ted went to his own cubicle.

Ted always got bored too quickly at work, but at least he had a new distraction that day, which was kind of nice. So a few hours into the day, he rolled his chair over behind Paul's and rested his chin on his shoulder.

"Hi Ted." There was a — slight, but present — smile in Paul's voice. "What do you want?"

"Wanna come get coffee with me?" Ted leaned his head against Paul's. "I'm bored."

"Okay." Paul shut down his screen. "Let's go." He stood up, shaking Ted off, but took his hand. "Beanie's?"

"Yeah." Ted smiled, because holding Paul's hand was kind of nice, and because he really hadn't expected that to be a successful date, but not only had he gotten laid, he was promised a second date. "You should be happy you're not dealing with customers, I need more iced tea than is available in the whole world."

"How about a nice caramel frappe?" Paul asked as they turned the corner. "My treat."

"Only because you're cute." Ted smiled.

"You've gotten better at flirting," Paul noted, and went to order for both of them.

"I should hope so," Ted said when he came back with their coffees. He kissed him. "I hate to say this, but we should get back to work."

"Yeah." Paul took his hand when they walked back too, and it was kind of nice, just because Ted enjoyed it.

He bugged Paul again shortly after lunch. "Hey Paul."

"What do you want, Ted?" Paul sounded only marginally less exasperated than he'd used to before their date. "Coffee again?"

"Sure, I'm just bored." He kissed Paul's cheek. "Also, I'm out of paper clips, come on a supply run with me."

Paul sighed, but he shut down his screen. "Okay." He took Ted's hand and walked down the hall to the supply closet.

"Nice." Ted pulled him inside — it was a room more than a closet, really — and shut the door. "No one's gonna notice if we're missing for a while."

"Okay, what are you doing?" Paul was still holding his hand. "What's happening here?"

Ted kissed him in lieu of answering. "Come on Paul, live a little." And yeah, okay, maybe it was just kind of nice to have the option to pull someone into a supply closet at work to make out, but also, Ted had come to the realisation that he quite enjoyed making out with Paul, specifically.

Paul shook his head. "We're at work."

"So?" Ted kissed him again, because sure, Paul was protesting, but he also still had both hands on Ted's hips and he was leaning into every kiss. "No one's gonna miss us for ten minutes."

He kept shaking his head, but he was the one to initiate the kiss, this time. "Ted…"

"Paul." Ted stepped away from him and sat on a stool in the corner, holding out his arms. "Come on. Just a minute."

Paul relented. "Just a minute." He sat on Ted's lap, straddling him, and yeah, okay,  _ that  _ was kind of nice in a way Ted hadn't really expected from Paul, even though they'd fucked. "I'm keeping time."

Ted wasn't going to waste his one minute talking, so he pulled Paul in for a kiss and didn't let it go. And yeah, they ended up making out for a lot more than a minute, but Ted wasn't about to stop it.

Paul pulled away eventually, and Ted took a moment to enjoy the fact that he looked positively disheveled. "We should get back to work."

"Sure." Ted, slightly breathless, was whispering. "This is fun though."

"It is."

"Come home with me." Ted kissed him quickly. "After work. We can continue."

Paul nodded. "Okay Ted." He smiled. "Let's get back to work." He stood up.

"You might wanna adjust your pants." Ted stood up as well, grabbing a bucket of paper clips, grinning slightly.

Paul flushed abruptly, but complied. "I'm going back to work."

"Sure sure." Ted took his hand as they walked back to their cubicles. He couldn't quite help himself from sending a cheap smile in Charlotte's direction, but it was kind of nice not to care about her not seeing it.


	3. Kind of Hot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's so weird to write Ted not with Charlotte, but by God do I appreciate these two

They drove back to Paul’s place instead of Ted’s, just so they could both have cars again. Not that Ted minded driving Paul around, but it had to happen eventually. They weren’t even properly dating, Ted figured, they’d gone on  _ a _ date and then hooked up.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been to your place,” Ted said when they walked into the apartment. “I know you’ve been at mine before yesterday, but I don’t think I’ve ever been here.”   
“Well, here we are.” Paul shrugged. “Um, do you want a tour or… I don’t know what I’m doing.”   
“Me either.” They were holding hands, so Ted pulled him close, putting one hand on his hip. “But I have a suggestion as to what we  _ could _ do.”

Paul kissed him in lieu of answering him and backed him against a wall, and okay, that was kind of hot and Ted might have gotten turned on way quicker than he’d like, but he also wasn’t about to complain. “Eager much?” he teased when Paul broke the kiss.

“You’re one to talk,” Paul replied, smiling. He still had Ted more or less pinned against the wall. “I hope this is gonna be more than sex.”

“Sure, but you’re kind of hot when you insist on pushing me against a wall.” Ted wondered briefly if he could lift Paul and decided he was probably better off not trying yet. “More than  _ kind of _ actually. Forgive me if that’s where my brain’s going.”

Paul stepped away, letting go of Ted. “Sorry.”   
“Hey, don’t apologise, I don’t mind.” Ted shrugged. “If you don’t wanna fuck we won’t fuck, who cares, but you can hardly get mad at me for getting a tiny bit turned on when you push me against a wall.”   
“Okay.” Paul smiled slightly. “Okay, I don’t know what I’m doing, I’m just… Going with it.”

Ted stared at him for a few seconds. “Sit.” He pointed at the couch. “We need to talk.”

Paul sat down. “What about?”

“This.” Ted sat next to him. “Whatever we’re doing here. You’re kind of hot and I’m definitely enjoying this whole making out thing we’ve got going on, but if you’re not actually into it, it shouldn’t be happening, you get that, right?”   
“I know, okay, I know.” Paul shrugged. “Okay. I enjoy… This.” He gestured vaguely with one hand. “You. I enjoy it. I just… Don’t know what it is.”

Ted shrugged. “We don’t have to know. Personally I’m a fan of not knowing. But if you need to call it something, just fucking go for it, what do I care.”

“I want you to care.” Paul took his hand, seemingly almost unthinking. “And it’s not that I need to call it anything, I just need to know where we stand.”   
“We went on a date, we hooked up, we kinda kept up the whole making out thing the day after, we’re probably going on another date at some point… I’m gonna go ahead and say we’re seeing each other.” Ted sighed. “I’m not prepared to have an actual conversation about it unless you really need that.”   
“No, it’s fine.” Paul leaned over to kiss him. “You’re also kind of hot.”   
There was no way Ted wasn’t gonna take that as an invitation, so he lifted Paul into his lap, the way they’d been sitting in the supply closet earlier, and started making out with him. And this time they weren’t at work, so it didn’t quite end there.

Ted ended up going home after dinner, just because sure, Paul was  _ kind of _ hot (more than  _ kind of _ , but Ted had gotten attached to applying the kneecap) but he was also an utter moron with no sense of what  _ seeing each other _ meant, and Ted needed a moment. Not in a bad way, he promised Paul, just a moment.

Paul was waiting for him in the parking lot when he came to work the next morning. “Hey Ted.”   
“Hi Paul.” Ted kissed him. “You’re early.”   
“No.” Paul took his hand. “You’re late.”   
“Am I?” Ted checked his watch. “No, it’s 8.57, I’m on time.”   
Paul took out his phone. “It’s 9.02.”

“Whatever.” Ted walked towards the building. “Come on.”   
“Do you have plans tonight?” Paul asked in the elevator.

“Nope, what are you thinking?”   
“Wanna uhh, go see a film? Or something?” Paul shrugged. “Go on a date.”   
“Yeah.” They were still two floors below their office, so Ted decided that he could pull Paul in for a proper kiss. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Great.” Paul smiled and stepped out of the elevator, pulling Ted with him. “I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“Sure thing.”

Ted managed to almost not flirt with Paul at work. Almost. He did kiss him at lunch, but they were a thing or whatever, he was allowed. He ignored Bill staring at them; Paul’s problem, not his, he decided.

Charlotte, however, was his problem. She came up to his cubicle after lunch. “Hi Ted.”   
“Hi Charlotte.” He didn’t look at her. “What’s up?”   
“Um, I was just curious, how long have you and Paul been together?”   
“Like two days?” Ted shrugged. “Why do you ask?”   
“Just curious.”

She didn’t leave, so he looked at her. “How are you and Sam?” It wasn’t entirely fair to ask her, he supposed, but if she was gonna ask about his love life, he was gonna dig right back.

Her smile fell. “Fine. Just fine. Counselling’s working out real swell.”

“I’m sure it is.” He turned back to work. “I’m kind of busy.”

“Oh. Sorry.” Charlotte left.

Paul picked him up at seven as promised, and Ted immediately regretted not changing clothes. Sure, a suit was Paul’s work outfit, but he was wearing Ted’s shirt again and no tie, top two buttons open, which was kind of hot. “Hey.” Ted smiled at him when he opened the door, still slightly distracted. “You look good.”   
“Oh. Thanks.” Paul blinked. “Ready to go?”

“Sure.” Ted kissed him and grabbed a jacket. “Let’s go.”

They took Paul’s car to Lakeside Mall and went to the Cineplex. Paul paid for both tickets, and Ted made a half-hearted attempt at paying for his own, just to be polite.

They were in the back row, and the movie was… Uninteresting, to put it mildly. Apparently Paul though so too, because he didn’t stop Ted from making out with him instead of watching the movie, and while both of them were far too old to be making out in a movie theatre, the idea of it was kind of hot. In practice, it mostly just earned them some discreet coughs.


	4. Kind of Romantic

After a solid two weeks of sort of dating, Ted was willing to admit that he was a little more than just attracted to Paul. He was  _ involved _ , and while that normally made him come up with a bad excuse and run, he decided that he was old enough to actually kind of try the relationship thing, just a little bit. Just try.

So Paul came home with him Friday after work and Ted made an attempt. “You know,” he said, putting a black coffee down in front of Paul and sitting next to him on the couch. “I’ve been thinking… Is this whole… Thing… Is it getting kind of exclusive or is that just my brain?”   
“It is.” Paul smiled slightly. “I mean, it always was for me.”   
“Sure, sure, aha.” Ted nodded. “I don’t normally do that, but sure. Yeah. I can work with that.”

Paul leaned into Ted’s side. “Okay.”   
“Okay,” Ted repeated and kissed Paul on the top of the head. “Wanna call it something?”   
“You’re decent at flirting, but you’re a terrible romantic,” Paul said.

“I’m romantic,” Ted protested. “Kind of.”

“Of course you are.” Paul kissed him. “You wouldn’t be my boyfriend if you weren’t.”

Ted decided to be  _ kind of _ romantic and not just deflect with sex. “Yeah well, I am an  _ excellent _ boyfriend. And to prove it, I’ll make you dinner.”   
Paul shook his head. “You don’t have to.”   
“I want to.” Ted kissed him. “But it’s only 5pm so I don’t need to start yet. What do you wanna do?”   
“You’re fishing for sex,” Paul accused.

“I am not.” Ted knew that kissing him wasn’t gonna support his words, but he didn’t really care. “I am asking what you want to do because I am a good boyfriend who cares about your opinion.”

Paul smiled. “Okay.” He slid himself into Ted’s lap, far too effortlessly, and Ted was getting far too used to Paul straddling him, not that he minded. “I don’t know what I want.”   
“Well, if you’re gonna be sitting like this, I’m suddenly much more inclined to be fishing for sex.” Ted grinned at him. “Do you mind?”   
“Not at all.” Paul kissed him, and Ted didn’t bother breaking it for another smartass comment, though he had plenty.

They ended up spending the whole weekend together, which wasn’t planned, and certainly wasn’t how Ted wanted to live his life in general, but he didn’t mind. He  _ liked _ Paul and yeah, having a boyfriend was new, but it was nice. And Paul was awkward and always looked mildly out of place no matter where he was, but he could be kind of romantic when he wanted to, and he never  _ felt _ out of place in Ted’s arms, or leaned against him when they sat on the couch together and watched movies, and certainly not when he inevitably sat in his lap to make out with him. 

Sunday evening, there was a knock on the door just as they were about to go to bed. "Hold on a moment." Ted kissed Paul on the cheek and grabbed a shirt to put on before answering the door.

Charlotte was outside. "Hi Ted."

"What do you want? It's almost midnight, and it's a work day." He wasn't happy to see her. He wasn't angry with her anymore, but that was largely because Paul kept him distracted, so he wasn't inclined to be excited, either.

"Uh, can I come in?"

"No, I'm headed to bed. Go home."

"Please?" She looked on the verge of tears. "I… Sam is cheating on me again and I can't be home right now, please just…"

"No." Ted looked down at her, suddenly grateful for his extra height. "If you don't wanna be at home, find somewhere else to be."

"Ted please, I—" Charlotte stepped closer and grabbed his shoulder, pulling herself up to kiss him.

Ted pushed her away before she got that far. "Unlike you, Charlotte, I don't cheat, and my boyfriend is here. I'll see you tomorrow." He closed and locked the door without waiting for a reply.

"Who was it?" Paul asked when Ted came back to the bedroom.

"Charlotte." Ted laid down and pulled Paul close. "She wanted to stay here. I told her that, first of all, she's the one who dumped me, so she has no right to make demands, second, I have a boyfriend who I far prefer to spend time with."

Paul kissed him. "You were right, you  _ are  _ kind of romantic." He smiled softly. "I'm sorry. You alright?"

"I'm fine." Ted shrugged. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Monday morning sucked, not because it was Monday morning, but because Charlotte was at work when Ted and Paul walked in. "I'm sorry," Ted whispered before pulling Paul into a proper kiss, knowing that he didn't really do the whole PDA thing save for holding hands. They'd kissed in public before, sure, but only when alone or once during their lunch break in the office, and they were both standing by Paul's desk.

Paul managed a smile. "I'll see you later, Ted."

"See you." Ted squeezed his hand and went back to his own desk, but the kiss had accomplished what he needed, which was that Charlotte refused to even look at him.

Paul pulled him aside at lunch. "What was that about?"

"Sorry," Ted said. "I just… I don't want Charlotte to try that little trick from last night again, but the way my relationship with her went wasn't… I think she will, is all I'm saying, but I can at least try to discourage her." He took Paul's hand. "Is kissing me really that bad?"

"I don't mind kissing you." As if to prove his point, Paul leaned in to kiss him, very quickly. "I just uhh, don't do this kind of thing in public. Sorry."

"No, I know, that's why I apologised." Ted shook his head slightly. "It won't happen again, I promise, I just… I don't wanna deal with her."

"Have you considered talking to her?"

"Do you think it would work?" Ted squeezed Paul's hand. "I just never tried to be even  _ kind of  _ romantic with her because God that was messy, so it's nice to do with you."

"Okay." Paul nodded. "Okay, you're my boyfriend. I can kiss you in public, okay?"

"Okay." Ted kissed him. "Don't force it, Paul."

"I'm not. Come on, this conversation might be  _ kind of  _ romantic, but I'm hungry." He rolled his eyes and walked back towards the break room, Ted following.


	5. Kind of Love

It wasn't that Ted forgot their one-month anniversary, except that he did. It was on a Sunday and he was at Paul's apartment for the weekend anyway, and Paul woke him up with a kiss. "Good morning."

"Morning." Ted smiled. "Why are you already dressed, come on, it's Sunday, we can sleep in."

"Sure, we can, but it's a special day."

Ted thought about it for a moment. "May 3rd?"

Paul laughed. "Yes Ted, it's May 3rd." He stood up. "What happened on April 3rd?"

"I'm too tired for this— Oh fuck." He suddenly remembered. "Sorry." He smiled sheepishly.

"It's okay." Paul slowly shook his head, but he was smiling. "Come on, I made breakfast."

"Awesome." Ted sat up and grabbed Paul's hand before he could leave. "Hey. Happy anniversary."

"Happy anniversary, Ted." Paul smiled and leaned down to kiss him. "Get dressed."

"Why bother, you'll have my clothes off in an hour anyway." Ted grinned and enjoyed Paul's flush. "I'd apologise, but your face is worth it."

He got an eye roll in response. "Put some clothes on Ted, please."

"Of course." Ted got out of bed and grabbed his clothes. "God I need to start bringing a bag for these weekend things, I swear I'm wearing your clothes more than my own."

"Not that I mind that much." Paul was utterly deadpan when flirting, which Ted found half hilarious, half frustrating. "Coffee?"

"Yeah, thanks."

Paul left, and Ted got dressed and went to go join him in the kitchen. He'd made beans and eggs, which Ted could appreciate, and there was coffee on the machine.

"Hey Paul?" Ted walked up behind him and wrapped both arms around him. "This is kind of good."

"Yeah." Paul rested his head against Ted's. "It's a real shame you forgot our anniversary, now I'll have to save your present for another month."

"Oh you shouldn't have gotten me anything in the first place." Ted kissed his cheek. "But since you did, let me at least take you out tonight. Dinner, at the Gaz, where we had our first date." Ted was vaguely grateful for being able to remember the name of the restaurant they'd been set up at, since he'd forgotten the date of them making things official. "You can even pretend I planned it more than eight hours in advance, if you'd like."

Paul laughed and turned in his arms to kiss him properly. "Okay. We'll call it even. Sit down, I'll get your present."

So Ted sat and waited for Paul to come back and place a small box with a card in front of him. "This looks nice." He opened the card. "By the way, I hope you're not planning to do this every month, because I'll probably forget every month, and I can't keep making excuses."

"No, just 'cause it's the first month." Paul sat down across from him and poured himself some coffee. "I'll pretend to forget until we hit six months."

"Right." Ted hadn't given much thought to  _ future  _ and such big words with Paul, but the idea of them hitting six months opened the possibility of them hitting a year, or multiple years. He shook the thought off and opened the card. 

_ Happy one month. I  _ _ kind of  _ _ love you. _

Ted laughed. "Nice." He smiled and didn't acknowledge anything else, because that was a little much for him, and Paul would know that. He hoped Paul would know that. "What's in the box?"

"You're supposed to open it, Ted." Paul didn't smile, but he did slowly shake his head, and when it came to fond exasperation, that was basically the same thing for Paul. "Go ahead."

So Ted opened the box. In it was a wallet, black leather, and decent quality by the looks of it. Ted picked it up. "Thanks, this is really nice."

"That flaky plastic one you have is stressful to even look at." Paul shrugged. "Figured a new one couldn't hurt."

"No, seriously, thanks." Ted got slightly to his feet so he could lean over to kiss Paul. "It's really nice."

"You're welcome." Paul looked almost flustered.

"Paul. Babe. We've been dating for a month, are you really gonna get flustered about me kissing you?"

"It wasn't the kiss," Paul muttered, staring at his plate. "I've never heard you be that sincere."

"Oh." That did kind of take Ted by surprise. "I'll try to be sincere more often?"

Paul shook his head. "No, I didn't mean it like that, you're not  _ insincere _ normally, I just think it's because you were surprised."

"I was." Ted smiled at him. "In the best possible way."

They went out for dinner than night and split a bottle of wine — white, but Paul ordered fish this time as well — and took a taxi back to Paul's place together. "This was nice," Ted said as they walked up the stairs, hand in hand. "Not  _ kind of  _ nice, just nice."

"Yeah." Paul unlocked the door and pulled them inside. "It  _ is  _ nice."

"Yeah." Ted, who had drunk most of the wine, was slightly more tipsy than he cared to admit, but he wrapped both arms around Paul's neck the second the door was closed. "You're nice."

Paul nodded briefly. "So are you." Then he kissed Ted and backed him against the wall, both hands on his hips. "You need to stop."

"Stop what?" Ted was not happy with Paul not kissing him, but he was pretty okay being pinned against the wall, so he counted it as a win.

Paul smiled, one of his rare full smiles. "Making me want to kiss you."

"No, I'm pretty sure that's exactly what I should be doing." Ted grinned. "As your boyfriend, I should definitely make you want to kiss me."

"Okay." Paul kissed him again, very quickly, and stepped back. "Come on, I'm tired, let's go to bed, okay?"

"Okay." Ted mostly wanted to pull Paul back to kiss him, but he complied and went with him to the bedroom, vaguely hoping he'd get laid, knowing he was okay with not.

He did get laid, but only because Paul decided to make out with him again once they laid down and then not stop him when he took it further, which, Ted figured, was mostly how sex between them went. He was alright with it, because he knew Paul would say if he wasn't up for it. He knew that because it had happened.

"Hey Paul?" Ted was half asleep, Paul next to him.

"Yeah?" He opened one eye. "What's up?"

"I  _ kind of  _ love you too." He tried to make mock of the kneecap, and mostly succeded.

"I was wondering if you were gonna ignore that." Paul smiled and kissed him. "I love you. Not  _ kind of _ just… Yeah."

Ted sighed. "I love you too." He pulled Paul close. "Goodnight Paul."

"Goodnight Ted."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, I'm a hopeless romantic okay, leave me be


End file.
